Israeli vote could hamper peace process

The rise of the far-right leader Lieberman is sure to reflect on the new government

The Israeli elections are taking a nasty turn into even more vicious racism than usual, with leaders of almost all political parties vying to be seen as more anti-Arab than the other. The defining feature of the savage war in Gaza was about individual leaders in the failing coalition in Israel trying to look tough against their opponents.

Ehud Barak is the leader of the Labour Party and the present defence minister but is not doing well in the polls, whereas Tzipi Livni, the leader of the Kadima Party and the foreign minister, has staged a fightback in the last few days.

The leader in the elections is Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud Party, who has gathered a lot of support. But it may well be that the next prime minister of Israel will be decided by outsider Avigdor Lieberman, who is the leader of the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party, which could win more votes than Labour.

Lieberman has staked out an outrageously anti-Arab position, calling on Israeli Arabs to pledge allegiance to Israel as a Jewish state and to commit to national service.

Lieberman is also strongly opposed to the concept of "land for peace", arguing that a fifth of the Israeli population who are Arab make any "land for peace" solution skewed to the Arabs' advantage.

Livni has started to gather some support in the past few days from the undecided younger swing voters, alarmed at the thought of Netanyahu being in charge of the country. But Livni would also need the support of Lieberman to form a government; so we face the disturbing prospect of an Israel led by Netanyahu, backed by Lieberman, or led by Livni backed by Lieberman.

Both options leave little room for any movement on peace talks.